Wyomingite falsely arrested

A shackled teacher's aide tried to explain her predicament to a judge through tears Friday. Vacationing from Riverton, Wyo., Hope Clarke said she had been rousted by federal agents at her cruise ship cabin door at 6:30 a.m. She was put in handcuffs on a bench warrant for failing to put away her marshmallows and hot chocolate while staying at Yellowstone National Park last year.

The catch? Clarke said she had to pay the $50 fine the same day for the federal offense of improper food storage before she was allowed to leave the park. Nonetheless, a warrant claiming she had not paid went into the federal law enforcement database. Back in the United States from Cozumel, Mexico, on Carnival's Fascination cruise ship, Clarke was awakened, cuffed, turned over to federal marshals and brought to court in leg shackles and short-shorts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Outerbridge conceded there were some "discrepancies."

Arrested and jailed over a $50 fine which she paid... all based on "improper food storage"? What kind of idiots thought this one up?

The relevant lesson here is that laws are enforced by men with guns. Whatever your goal might be, if it's not important enough to be enforced at gunpoint, then you damn well should find some mechanism other than a law. Laws are for important stuff.